René Descartes
1596 – 1650
Rene Descartes (1596–1650) is considered the father of modern Western philosophy. Seeking certainty in an age shaken by the Scientific Revolution, he developed a method of radical doubt. His famous 'I think, therefore I am' established the thinking self as the one unshakeable foundation, launching philosophy's modern preoccupation with mind, consciousness, and the relationship between self and world.
Key works: Meditations on First Philosophy · Discourse on the Method · Cogito, ergo sum
Top quotes by René Descartes
“The first precept was never to accept anything as true if I did not recognize it to be evidently true.”
Read the full explanation →“Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.”
Read the full explanation →“For it is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to apply it well.”
Read the full explanation →“For conversing with those of other centuries is almost the same as travelling.”
Read the full explanation →“The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.”
Read the full explanation →“Yet it may be that I am mistaken, and that what I take for gold and diamonds is perhaps only a little copper and glass.”
Read the full explanation →“My plan has never gone further than trying to reform my own thoughts, and to build on a foundation that is wholly my own.”
Read the full explanation →“The mind is not merely present in the body like a pilot in a ship, but very closely joined and as it were intermingled with the body.”
Read the full explanation →
Which philosopher are you?
Six questions. No wrong answers.
Keep René Descartes in your pocket
Sagius is free to download and gives you 5 free credits, +5 when you sign up, to try the AI features — chat with René Descartes and other great philosophers, and have any quote explained with the meaning behind it.
